1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrangement for measuring a rate of rotation using a vibration sensor. Vibration that is perpendicular to a first axis is excited and measured with the aid of capacitive drive elements, and the rotation about a second axis, which is excited by rotation in a third axis under the action of the Coriolis force, is measured with the aid of capacitive measuring elements, the capacitive elements each being formed by fixed electrodes and by electrodes which can be moved with the vibration sensor, the movable electrodes being jointly connected to a fixed connection.
2. Description of Prior Art
Rate of rotation sensors are used, for example, in safety systems for motor vehicles. A vibration sensor in the form of a gyroscope has been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,668. In this case, the rotational vibration is excited with the aid of electrostatic drives. The output signal and a signal for regulating the drives are likewise obtained electrostatically, by means of capacitance measurements with the aid of supplied AC voltages. In this case, the amplitude of the AC voltage supplied to the drive is considerably greater than that of the signals obtained from the change in capacitance, with the result that, in particular, the output signal to be processed further in order to determine the rate of rotation is subject to considerable interference. This impairs the measurement accuracy.